Diana’s powers weren’t the only things waning here..

Wonder Woman1984
Director: Patty Jenkins
Cast: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Pedro Pascal, Kirsten Wiig and others

Wonder Woman, after leaving the theatre in 2017 and experiencing the now Patty Jenkins classic for the time I turned to my writing partner and said man this is going to hard to follow up. It was an riveting well-rounded story that was both inspirational and fun. Fast forward 3 years and we finally revisit the Amazon from Themyscira.  This time, in 1984. Going in to this story I expected a fun care free adventure filled with the 80’s cheese. Yet with 2020 being “2020” we got a story of what ifs. What if this was released in the summer? What if this was something that a wide spread audience enjoyed in a packed theatre? What if this trail blazed a path yet again in a male-lead dominated genre?

WW84 at its core is a fun adventure that honestly just needed to trim some of its excess. Gal Gadot is stunning again as Wonder Woman. I can’t picture anyone taking that role at this time. She saved this movie by following up her debut with her strong yet warm turn as Diana Prince. Hats off to Kristen Wiig who honestly was amazing in her role as clumsy and awkward Dr Barbara Minerva, Together, they chance upon an ancient rock that promises to make anyone’s wishes come true. The aforementioned rock becomes the crux or Magoffin of the film. Its like a monkey’s paw that grants wishes with a hefty price. I can see what the Patty Jenkins attempted to do here with the object, but it just didn’t work in certain parts of the film. More screen time should have been devoted to Kristen Wiig and Gal Godot than it was give to Pedro Pascal as Max Lorde.

The climax of the film sticks its landing with a few awkward moments mostly being the abrupt resolution of the Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) storyline, and Max Lorde seemingly going unpunished. Still the biggest detractor for this film is the release timeline and delays. While most don’t mind watching a summer movie in the Winter. This film had Summer Blockbuster written all over it.  Hopefully the next installment will release during “normal times”.   

I give WW84 3/5 Gauntlets for still giving us a wonderful (pun intended) outing, but awkwardly sticking the landing. If you are on the fence see it for how awesome Kristen Wiig is!!

Editor’s Note:

Wonder Woman 1984 is neither the movie I wanted it to be but in a time of COVID 19 and the need for home entertainment, it is the film AT&T/Warner Bros. needed it to be. I agree with many of Marco’s points, but add that the disjointed narrative and reliance on plot contrivances ultimately do a great disservice to the films villains, leaving poor Diana with nothing to Lasso or hit by the film’s closure. I suppose the argument for placing the film in the 80s would be the overarching focus on greed being the folly of man, however using that message to sell your third act feels almost as cheap as the studio meddling that resulted in the failure of a third act for the first outing back in 2017. What should have been a fun popcorn flick and success for Patty Jenkins, rests as an example of what NOT to do with a sequel. It’s clear there was a lot of course correcting to lighten the narrative after Zack Snyder left WB, but it’s also clear that there was a great movie in here…somewhere. It’s a shame we’ll have to settle for a “meh” one, that tows the same line as many direct to video outings over the past couple of months. With what Disney is pushing on their platform, WB needs to step their game up because this here? This isn’t the way…

Our formal discussion: COMING SOON ON THE RETREON PROJECT PODCAST